cheron98

This thread is designed to be a one-stop-shop for all your LabRat report needs. Got a bottle in your cellar that you can't remember the tasting notes on? Look it up here with easy links to the weekly wine.woot wonders! Have you received a Golden Ticket? Post up your notes in the main thread for the offering and it'll magically find its way here! Not signed up? Use the nifty sign-up sheet, and WD will get you signed up. And one day, you too, can be part of the pack - the Rat Pack!

If you've posted a LabRat experience and it hasn't been cross-posted here, please let me know. I will pretty much always let you know you've been cross-posted with a simple little statement of "You've been packed." If you're lucky, there'll be a link directly to your packed post.

Make any winery purchases anytime from when the sale launches Friday through 10 a.m. Central time Wednesday.

Be able to receive a signature-required package on the following Thursday or Friday.

When you receive a Golden Ticket, sample the wine that evening if at all humanly possible.

Once you have sampled the wine, post your tasting notes and impressions on the main thread.

The sooner you get your notes up, the better - some people rely on the rat reports to make their decisions.

Once you have signed up, you're in. You do NOT have to keep re-submitting the form for every offer.

Friday offers are guaranteed to have rats. These rats may be lucky and receive the offers for the upcoming week (Monday - Thursday) too. But if you did not purchase by Wednesday, you will not be ratted.

Please note: The offer you purchase IS NOT the offer you will receive to rat.

Did you get all that? Here's an example of rattery scheduling:

Friday, August 27th, an offer goes up and stays up. Any purchase at any time made of this offer will qualify you for the next Friday, Sept 3rd offer.

Monday, August 30th, a new offer goes up. Any purchase at any time made of this offer will qualify you for the upcoming Friday, Sept 3rd offer.

Tuesday, August 31st, a new offer goes up. Any purchase at any time made of this offer will qualify you for the upcoming Friday, Sept 3rd offer.

Wednesday, September 1st, a new offer goes up. Any purchase UP UNTIL 10AM CENTRAL TIME of this offer will qualify you for the upcoming Friday, Sept 3rd offer.

Thursday, September 2nd, a new, non-wine offer goes up. Purchases DO NOT QUALIFY for rattery. Rat packages are sent out for Friday delivery.

Friday, September 3rd, a new offer goes up. Rat packages are delivered and expected to have reports posted. Purchase qualification cycle begins for the Friday, Sept 8th offer.

HitAnyKey42

cheron98 wrote:Experimental new thread here, we'll see how it goes. Each week I'll start up a new thread for the current offerings. What goes in here? The LabRat reports! In an attempt to consolidate reports into something coherent and in one easy place to find. I'll be scouring the main thread looking for the rats and pulling their reports in here (and encouraging all to come here!).

So LabRats, post away!

This week's pack:
marekny7 (Tempranillo)
UbiDubi (Tempranillo)

It's an interesting idea, but I think it's just one too many threads for people to worry about, especially week-to-week. The purpose of the main thread is for all discussion regarding that week's offering including the labrat reports. All of which WD links to at the beginning of the thread for easy retrieval.
But that's just my opinion.

Now if you were to make a single thread which would be used to house ALL the labrat reports each week in a single thread...that might be a different story.

cheron98

HitAnyKey42 wrote:It's an interesting idea, but I think it's just one too many threads for people to worry about, especially week-to-week. The purpose of the main thread is for all discussion regarding that week's offering including the labrat reports. All of which WD links to at the beginning of the thread for easy retrieval.
But that's just my opinion.

Now if you were to make a single thread which would be used to house ALL the labrat reports each week in a single thread...that might be a different story.

As I pointed out over in the pub, a lot of times, people end up doing multi-part postings, and only the first gets linked to from the front page. So the later follow-up posts get lost. But like I said, this is experimental, so we'll see how it goes.

JW had mentioned the possibility of doing a single thread for all the lab rat reports, but that it might start getting odd for separating out each week's offering. He then went into some long-winded linkage discussion that I'm still trying to sort out...

If it turns out that this is just one of my hair-brained ideas that sounds good on paper but doesn't work so well in reality, no biggie

sanity

I agree with HAK. This is a fine idea, and I think it would work as a single thread. Many, and this was addressed last week, are too lazy, don't know how, etc, to look up old posts, even if posted in the quality posts section at the beginning of thread.

The advantages being, if it's posted at regularly, it will stay near the top of the forum list, and for those who don't belong to CT (and why the heck not?!) they may go back and easily look up tasting notes for a previous wine. I often do not taste my wines immediately (ok, not all of them) upon receipt, and will look up notes when I'm ready to imbibe.

cheron98

sanity wrote:I agree with HAK. This is a fine idea, and I think it would work as a single thread. Many, and this was addressed last week, are too lazy, don't know how, etc, to look up old posts, even if posted in the quality posts section at the beginning of thread.

The advantages being, if it's posted at regularly, it will stay near the top of the forum list, and for those who don't belong to CT (and why the heck not?!) they may go back and easily look up tasting notes for a previous wine. I often do not taste my wines immediately (ok, not all of them) upon receipt, and will look up notes when I'm ready to imbibe.

So go for it, cheron98; I'm sure you'll make it work!

Humm. Maybe we'll go with the single-thread thing, then

I find a lot of times, too, that the labrat link in the Quality Posts just gets lost in all the other "quality posts", since a lot of times the other posts get some verbose linkage, whereas the rat report gets something like "So-and-so provides some rattage."

jwhite6114

cheron98 wrote:As I pointed out over in the pub, a lot of times, people end up doing multi-part postings, and only the first gets linked to from the front page. So the later follow-up posts get lost. But like I said, this is experimental, so we'll see how it goes.

JW had mentioned the possibility of doing a single thread for all the lab rat reports, but that it might start getting odd for separating out each week's offering. He then went into some long-winded linkage discussion that I'm still trying to sort out...

If it turns out that this is just one of my hair-brained ideas that sounds good on paper but doesn't work so well in reality, no biggie

My fav's are the ideas I come up with in my sleep, and then wake up all excited about my brilliant plan, only to realize some fatal flaw. Like there is no way I will ever fit a cruise ship into my car.

WineWootaholic

jwhite6114 wrote:My fav's are the ideas I come up with in my sleep, and then wake up all excited about my brilliant plan, only to realize some fatal flaw. Like there is no way I will ever fit a cruise ship into my car.

cheron98

marekny7 wrote:Ok, there it goes. As I wrote earlier I got the 2005 Tempranillo.
Poured some in the glass right after popping the cork. Not much on the nose yet, but I got a mouthful of tannins instead.Obviously needs some air.
After more than an hour the dinner is ready (garlic rosemary marinaded steak, roasted potatoes with broccoli and cheese, spring mix salad on the side) and the wine opened up a lot, nice rich color, little on the dry side and medium body. Along the way I picked some earth, herbs, cloves maybe. Other than that red currant (I will get it any time as I grew up on them) and cherries. Tannins were present all along but the food muted them very well.I still have about a third of the bottle left for tomorrow so there will be a note or two left then.
Overall I enjoyed the Tempranillo very much even though it was my foray into this variety.
Need to add or gift myself one more set.
Hopefully my $0.02 was helpful.

sanity

cheron98, had a question. Would you also be posting the wanna be labrat reports? Some of those tasting notes might be helpful as well (uh, not the ones that say, "I tried this and didn't like it."). I've posted a few wannabe's in the past, as I know a few other regular poster have, too.

cheron98

sanity wrote:cheron98, had a question. Would you also post the wanna be labrat reports? Some of those tasting notes might be helpful as well (uh, not the ones that say, "I tried this and didn't like it.". I've posted a few wannabe's in the past, as I know a few other regular poster have, too.

Absolutely. I've seen the wannabes and have found them helpful, as I'm sure others have as well, so feel free to post it

HitAnyKey42

No decanter available, so opened the wine about an hour before pouring. Having not had Tempranillo before, I knew not what to expect. The aroma was alot like Cabernet to me. That's what I would have guessed by the nose alone.

Poured two glasses, at room temperature, in the hotel room and headed down to dinner at LaStrada in the ElDorado. So no corkage fees, and I will remember Rapscallion for another trip. On first taste, both of us tasted no tannins. Zero. The one word reviews were...

Me: Smooth
Her: Flavorful (It doesn't make my teeth feel fuzzy)

Both of us had the "Chef's Tasting Menu". A four course "surprise" menu. Appetizers were antipasti of roasted vegies, prosciutto, mortadella, mozzarella, olives, and greens. Pasta course of penne w/ roasted tomatoes, saffron risotto, and mushroom ravioli. Main course of chicken Parmesan and swordfish w/ a tomato-caper sauce. Dessert was a vanilla gelato.

The wine "worked" with everything. Didn't try it with the gelato. This did not have a big mouth feel, and not very complex. I picked up definite flavors of berries. Not a "winey" wine. I dubbed it the wine for people who don't like wine. If you have had red wines, and didn't like the "puckerness factor", then this wine would be for you. As ElJefe said earlier, this would be a good starter set to try out reds. I would like to try this wine slightly chilled and see how that affects the body.

cheron98

Light ruby in color, almost Pinot noir-ish. Great aroma. From pop to pour, the smell is what is driving the experience. Take a sip: a little spicy, soft and full of berries. Also, a little bit of earth, too (dust? chicken coop? good either way and I realize I suck at descriptors). The mid palate is strong, but leaves you wishing for more on the finish. A bit more acidity than I'd expect from grenache, which was perfect with dinner.

Serve this wine at party during appetizers, and you won't hear a complaint. It's built for drinking now, though so smoke em if you got em. This is a good bottle to have in your cellar when in the mood for something good but a little trashy. Pizza and pr0n. I like it.

yathink2

This is not an "official" LabRat report as I did not receive a Golden Ticket for this item. I *did* receive a Golden Ticket for a previous February offering (ordered under my already black-boxed primary account), but I wootleg and didn't receive it until April. I do happen to have a bottle of the 2005 *%#&@! on hand, and it seemed appropriate to redeem myself ever so slightly by taking on the LabRole.

Thus, the LabRabbit report. Like Alice's WR, I'm late for this very important date. Unlike WR, I get to make up for it.

Now on to the wine.

Upon opening, the first thing to hit is the leathery scent of Syrah, which asserts itself big time despite playing second fiddle in this blend. It's immediatelty followed by toasted blueberry poptart with some blackberry in the filling.

In the glass (a Riedel Vinum Syrah [RVS] glass, for those who care about sucht things), a rusty, purplish garnet color that turns clear about 2mm from the edge. I can see through the disk at all points. The color does not stick to the glass and after swirling, legs take anywhere from two to ten seconds to roll down three inches of glass.

The shape of the RVS glass means that the nose will be prominent throughout consumption, and the leather hits me square as I take the first sip. Initial attack is kinda hot with a bit of sour cherry. The tannins are very smooth; to the point that I really don't notice them. I prefer my Rhône-/Languedoc-styles with a bit of tannic bite at the end (it should "dry-clean" my mouth), so that's a minus for me. It would probably be a plus for most Rhône neophytes.

I must decant this for a bit, and begin preparing my dinner. More later.

Medium red. Initial aromas of raspberry and strawberry with a gamy note. After swirling it develops very ripe cherry and berry aromas with a bit of raisin, almost Zin-like. There are added notes of cinnamon and a slightly smoky, Syrah-like character. There is a lot of complexity and a mature aspect to the aroma; this doesn’t smell like the straightforward fruit bomb that often typifies young Grenache. There’s a big sweet, full entry, lots of very ripe fruit flavor with good acid balance, and the tannins are moderate. There is some alcohol heat, which comes on mid-palate and intensifies a bit at the finish. Given the complexity and seeming maturity of the aromas, the soft tannins, and the alcohol, I think this wine will probably be most enjoyable over the short term and is probably not a great candidate for extended aging.

2005 Twisted Oak Tempranillo

Medium dark to dark purple-red. Initial aromas are of low to medium toast oak, ripe plum, dill and black olive. With swirling the fruit aromas intensify and are joined by leather, licorice and tobacco while the oak is still quite evident. More aeration brings out more fruit, a toffee-like character and some floral notes. Although I’m not much of one for decanting, if you’re going to drink this one young it will probably be much more interesting if decanted / aerated first.
The entry is sweet and full, there is good weight and viscosity, and that texture is consistent through the mid-palate to the rich finish. The fruit and oak flavors don’t seem fully integrated yet, and there is some drying astringency. There is adequate acid for balance without tartness. This wine seems like it will benefit from aging at least another couple of years.

2005 Twisted Oak *%#&@!

Medium dark purple-red. Initial aromas are stewed fruit, sandalwood, black pepper and oak. With swirling there is plum and cherry, chocolate, orange peel and a “meaty” character. Further aeration yields vanilla, leather, a bit of mint, modeling clay and lots of black pepper. The entry is quite sweet, full and mouthcoating. The middle is full and fruity with a chocolatey aspect, without a lot of apparent acid. There is a bit of unresolved tannin, but the finish lingers for some time. This seems more developed than the Tempranillo but will probably also benefit from cellar age.

These three wines definitely show a kinship. The regional characteristics and winemaking style are consistent. All three are fairly big, quite ripe and a tad rustic – typical of Sierra foothill wines. The style blends elements of new and old world winemaking, big and ripe, yet complex rather than simple and fruity.

cheron98

MalcolmPX wrote:LabRabbit Report Part, the second: After forty minutes in a decanter.

Leather nose has subsided quite a bit, giving way to the PopTart filling and a slight bit of petrol/pork fat. The palate changes from second to second. Soft attack still with sour cherry on leather. This melts into some sort of dark fruit, baking chocolate (not milk chocolate, not deep milk chocolate, not dark chocolate, but 90+% cacao baking chocolate), and tar (not necessarily in that order) mid- to back-palate where it's joined by bacon. Then in that spot on the roof of my mouth where the bitterness hits me, is is a finish of softened suede, Coca-Cola Blak, bacon, and baking chocolate, and YES tannins drying out my mouth. Not as much as my favorite wines from Southwest France or Uruguay, or even a Languedoc Grenache, but they're there. I should enjoy this with the bacon-wrapped filet mignon I'm preparing.

yathink2

Sorry so long. I'm a verbose individual. Also, I think it's fair to say that while I enjoy wine, I despise pretension, so I'm trying to keep this low key.

I am not familiar with the Grenache so much (I bought this for the Tempranillo and the naughty word wine), so this was a nice surprise. It came last night, but I decided to white trash it up with some beer and was in no condition to try the wine by the time my husband got home.

Since everything is better with pics, here it goes!

Bottle sitting on my filthy counter, with my Willy Wonka ticket. It's OK to be jealous of my formica. I know you all are.

When I pulled out the cork, it was literally crumbling. This doesn't bode well. But check out what was all around the lip of the bottle. This is just nasty. It's not cork, I'm not sure what it is.

It just appears to be sentiment. Wasn't planning on decanting, but I guess I have to now.

Sitting and decanting. I'm grilling a turkey breast for dinner, so it'll probably be later before I try it. My husband stole a glass, and he said it was "spicy". He never offers up an opinion on wine, so consider yourselves all lucky.

Labrat report - pt. 2

No more photos. Too much effort and I'm just wanting to curl up with the wine! Wine decanted for about 75 minutes, and I needed to grab some before my husband drank it all.

Color is very dull. Not a garnet, much too flat to be that. I'm going to borrow a page out of Gary V's book, since I feel bad for trashing him a couple of weeks ago, and say that the color looks EXACTLY like the black cherry kool-aid I used to drink as a kid.

Nose: The earth is the first thing that hit me. I tried not to read the other posts so I wouldn't be spoiled, but I can't help myself. I'm looking for the strawberry scent, just not picking it up. I am getting some spice though. Nutmeg? Maybe cinammon? Anyway, I really like the nose. I'm more into these aromas than fruity aromas.

Appearance: A quick swirl of the glass, this looks lighter in body than I expected. Closer to a pinot noir, but I guess that makes sense, since everyone recommend fowl to go with this. You can see your fingers through the wine, but barely.

Taste: The first thing I thought when I tasted was light smoke. Not smokey like when you normally describe wines as "smokey", but more of a tobacco flavor. Sort of like I licked the inside of a humidor. Which I try to do at least twice a day. Some oak comes through on the mid pallet, but it's not too overdone. Then comes the finish. It's one part spice, one part heat. The first sip I took, I was thinking black pepper, but subsequent sips do taste a little hot. But that pepper taste is still in there.

Verdict: Not too bad. I'm almost relieved I wasn't saddled with a heavier wine on such a warm day. It's very easy to drink, but I question how well it'll pair with food. An earlier review suggested pizza, and I thought at first that this would be too light for that, but now I'm thinking it's best with shellfish in red sauce. All in all, I wouldn't buy a 3 pack of just this, but I think it'll be a nice contrast to the other wines in this set.

Now my turkey breast burned while I was typing, so I'll find out how it goes with carcogens! I hope someone found this helpful.

yathink2

As predicted, this wine was excellent with the meal which consisted of bacon-wrapped filet mignon (courtesy Omaha Steaks), green and wax beans with a cranberry-butter-herb sauce, and butter and herb mashed potatoes. I'm single so the beans were Birds Eye and the potatoes were Betty Crocker. I also used a cup of it to make a variation of my favorite Merlot Cream sauce (*%#&@!-ing Cream Sauce?), which I put over the potatoes and drizzled a little over the filet. It worked very well, and the smooth tannins, still not to my "monster truck" liking, did a good job of half-cleaning my mouth.

Bottom line, this wine is an excellent example of a California Rhône style blend. If you know and love true Rhônes, you might find it wanting in some ways. It's definitely a "New World" blend, especially after some time opening up when the leather gives way to the fruit. If you like Rhône blends of the new world, you'll find it squarely within your expectations and enjoy every sip. If you're new to Rhônes, this is a good starting point that will expose you to some of their idiosyncracies without drowning you in them. A solid effort and at under $17 a bottle, a good QPR with this offer.

cheron98

No probs, I appreciate the help I yanked out the other one and fixed the link. I *really* appreciate the help, actually. I'm ecstatic that y'all are stepping up to help out with this. Makes me love you guys & this place even more

yathink2

buttercup27 wrote:Woo Hoo!
Thank you so much for the opportunity to make a complete fool of myself at work. My employees don't need anymore proof that I'm crazy and a wine lover. Having to explain what the golden ticket was while grinning ear to ear is not that easy!

Labrat for the *%#&@!

(not to have any preconceptions, I will abstain from reading the last few pages of comments until I taste)

Dinner is almost done, and lab partner is on the way... although if he takes too long the experiment may be over.
Don't know how it will pair, but I'm making Caesar salad and Rice noodles with olive oil, roasted garlic, and vine ripe tomato sauce.

yathink2

cheron98 wrote:No probs, I appreciate the help I yanked out the other one and fixed the link. I *really* appreciate the help, actually. I'm ecstatic that y'all are stepping up to help out with this. Makes me love you guys & this place even more

cheron98

Yeah Just FYI - I haven't been posting the "announcement" posts, other than to update the header for the week with the person's name and which wine they got. Just pulling in the actual reports over here.

cheron98

buttercup27 wrote:Ok, pop and pour... Tartrates on the cork and inside the bottle
(Wellington has taught me this is a good thing)
Color purpley-red light in color, I can see through the glass easy, but not the decanter
Smells like dark fruit and a perfumy spice
First taste, kinda hot... needs some time to open up

45minutes later:
Soft and juicy right away and then the tannins come and attack. Peppery finish.

Lab partner arrives...
Me: "So, what do you think?? What do you taste?"
Him: "I don't have that kind of palate, man..."
Me: "Do you taste any fruit? Leather? Spice? Dirt?" (assorted nagging )
Him: "It tastes ok"
Me: "How does it taste at first? Fruity? Then do the tannins dry up your mouth? "
Him: "It has a sweet aftertaste"
Me: "Uhhhh I need to type something here.... How is it compared to other wines?"
Him: "Well... Poizin... WOW, Thats a great wine and that mertiage your friend brought over, that was great too"

90 minutes after open:
Him: "Its good I like it , I could drink a lot of it"
Me: "............"

This wine definitely benefits from decanting, but I'm not sure I adore this style of wine. I prefer a full bodied, bad ass wine. This wine is almost pinot noirish in body and I'm typically looking for more from a wine.

I hope my comments are useful to someone...
I'm not an wine expert by any means, but I do love the grapes!
I really love this place and you are all so generous with your knowledge and wit!

yathink2

cheron98 wrote:Yeah Just FYI - I haven't been posting the "announcement" posts, other than to update the header for the week with the person's name and which wine they got. Just pulling in the actual reports over here.

mozart23

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate this thread. I only get to check the boards a few times a day (if at all) and sometimes the prospect the sorting through hundreds of posts makes me want to curl up into a ball and close the browser.

yathink2

tarheel17 wrote:“So sorry I’m late, Mrs. Woot.”
*shuffles papers sheepishly*
“Let’s see, I have my homework assignment somewhere…”
*drops pencils, papers, random playing cards all over the floor*
“OK, OK, here it is. Really, I’m sorry I didn’t get it done in time….maybe you could give me an extra credit sort of thing to do later?”
*slinks back to desk and slouches as low as possible, avoiding the glares from her classmates and teacher…*
--------------------------------------
EDIT:The 2005 Twisted Oak *%#&@! was tasted. Please don't take off too many points....

Ahem. So, tonight I raced back (inasmuch as anyone can race back through rush hour traffic) home to taste my labrat bottle. Since I am late to post, I decided to do a three part analysis (you know, for extra credit and all that…). Follow along if you will.

PART ONE: How the wine does by itself (or, what to do while you wait for dinner)
I popped the cork, started some laundry, ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes, showered, and 1.5 hours later, poured myself a glass. This is my version of lazy-gal’s-decanting.
I swirled and sniffed and I got a little rubber dust, and some overripe blackberries. Nice.
On the palate I got my first EVER taste of smoked meats (in wine, that is). I hear that description often for certain red wines, but I’m happy to say that for the first time EVER in my 2-year taking-wine-seriously career, this blend has finally given it up. To my very own personal olfactory bulb. This is very exciting to a wine geek like me. Besides that, I noticed a rich midpalate, very smooth, that transitions perfectly to the finish with just a hint of spice. My only complaint at this point was that the finish was a tad too ‘hot’ (alcoholic) to me.

PART TWO: How the wine does with food (or, how to best disguise my wine addiction with an appearance of normalcy)
Having been out of town since Monday night, there wasn’t a whole lot to choose from in the dinner department. So I settled for leftovers of what appear to be a Black Bean Mango Barley dish (obviously, not something I made). The dish itself is sweet, but a tad bland. Now, I am always hesitant to pair wine and food. Always. No matter what anyone says, I usually do not enjoy wine and food together. I’d say 90% of ‘accepted wine pairings’ (like shiraz and dark chocolate, or chianti and spaghetti with tomato sauce) I don’t like. This is perhaps because I am a slight supertaster (yep, took the test and everything) or maybe I just like my wine unadulterated. Who can tell.
Anyway, I can count on both hands the number of times that I have truly felt that the food enhanced the wine and vice versa in my dining experience (30 years, for you nosy types). So imagine my surprise when I discovered that THIS wine and THIS dish, went hand and hand like PB&J. I was so excited I wolfed everything down and guzzled my first glass with naught but a few notes, which were:
This wine is GREAT with food, it brings out the sweetness of the dish with its contrasting sour and earthiness. Meanwhile, the alcoholic finish completely disappears. I can’t get enough of it!

PART THREE: How the wine does against a contender (or, how to irritate your building manager by recycling way too many glass bottles each week)
In the kitchen, I found a bottle of Il Tarocco Chianti Classico 2005 on the counter. No telling how long it’s been open – my husband is not at home right now to query. I did not buy it, nor have I ever seen it before. I’m guessing it’s about a $10 bottle, but don’t’ know for sure.
Anyway, when a wine geek like me sees two open bottles on the counter, there is only one recourse: pit them against eachother! Who cares if one is sangiovese, and one is a Spanish blend. It matters not to the nerdy girl in the first row.
What I found was that the Twisted Oak retained it’s lovely charred sausage personality, complete with bloody fruit and even some stone and dirt (which I hadn’t noticed before). The Chianti? Well, let’s just say the fruit flavors were AWOL, and it was a sour, sour, SOUR experience. I’m back on the TO and sucking it down happily.

Thanks to everyone for reading this entirely too long post. And most of all, thanks to el jefe for making such great wine! This is not some mass-marketed fruit bomb with zero personality (but big bahonkas). This is the real deal. The kind you take home to marry. This wine is in it for the long haul.

cheron98

A note about this week's pack - Jeff accidentally sent WD the wrong vintage for the rats for the Syrah, so instead of the 2005 in the offering, they received the 2006. Jeff says they have the same signature though, so all should be well.

cheron98

norvegicus wrote:OK I couldn't wait until dinner. Popped the cork and decided to decant it for a bit before dinner. My wife and I each had a little taste. Both of us are wine review neophytes.

There were some crystals on the cork, so I wiped out the bottle neck carefully.

COLORThis wine is a VERY dark, almost opaque, purplish, burgundy ,PLUM color. It looks like a much older wine, not like I'd expect a 2006 to look.

FRAGRANCEMe: this is a savory wine, not fruity, I smell tobacco, leather, EARTH, and a hint of cherry pits, tiny bit of alcohol heat but you have to think about it to notice it

wife: PLUM, earthy

consensus: dark, pitted fruits

FLAVOR

STRONG early hit on the tip of the tongue with some heat quickly progressing to the sides with acidity. Tannins hit hard and early. Kind of a short finish, or maybe it's just a subtle finish that is really smooth. The tannin dry feeling on my tongue doesn't last uncomfortably long at all.

It tastes like it smells, very earthy, not very fruity except for DARK, PITTED fruit.

NONE of this is harsh at all. Overall impression is SMOOOOOOOTH and ELEGANT and COMPLEX. The only time I notice any alcohol heat is right the beginning and then it's gone.

This is a VERY complex wine, especially for a youngish varietal. I'm impressed. For a wine this young to be this complex and smoooooth right out of the bottle is rare.

This is delicious wine. I'm very much looking forward to having it with dinner: grilled filet mignon and some fresh home made pesto pasta.

I just decanted it. More later.

norvegicus wrote:Pepper! There's pepper in there! Maybe "white" pepper? I don't know, but I like it. Time to grill the steaks...early dinner because of my stupid meeting...

We marinated the steaks in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper and grilled them. Accompanying them were steamed green beans and mashed potatoes and au jus gravy (the pesto we saved for tomorrow).

The wine got fruitier with an hour in the decanter and with the food. But it's still DARK, pitted fruits. It lost almost all the alcohol heat, this is NOT a hot wine at all, which I very much appreciate. The tannins softened almost completely, not sure if this was the food (probably) or just time in the decanter - I had to really think about it to pull any tannins out of the experience.

Did it change significantly? Yes, but not in it's prime quality of being SMOOOTH and Elegant.

My wife's comment: "This goes EXCEEDINGLY well with these steaks, and especially with my balsamic marinade."

Consensus: Excellent wine and I wish I would have bought more. Looking forward to Thursday's offering.

I'm off to my meeting. We'll finish the bottle after I get home and I'll write another report.

My wife says she has a headache and doesn't want any more wine. I don't think the wine is to blame. At any rate I'm going to have one more small glass and then funnel the rest back into the bottle, put it under vacuum with the VacuVin, and put it in the refrigerator until tomorrow night.

So final review for this evening:

Wine has been in the decanter for about three hours I think. Fragrance is a bit muted.

Tannins are back. So it was the food that was muting them almost completely. They hit later in the profile and last into the finish now. Still not obtrusive, but definitely there. They are bit softer than earlier but last longer.

The huge early hit to the tip of my tongue is gone, the acid goes right to the sides now.

The finish is longer.

Flavor has definitely evolved. Much more CHERRY in there now, for some reason I want to call this cherry pits. ??? But there are flavors now that I don't remember from earlier. Cork (it tastes like cork smells, pretty subtle though). Caramel (the lighter side of the flavor of caramel, with no stickiness or heaviness to it, if that makes sense). Coffee ? Kind of like the brightness of a Kenya bean combined with the sweetness of a Central American bean, this is really subtle though.(I am a total coffeehead and actually am better at reviewing coffee than wine)

The legs are still HUGE - there are legs up the side of the glass for minutes. Literally.

In general though the overall impression is "brighter" than earlier and if anything even smooooother. Less complex though, there is a lot of stuff missing from earlier.

This wine doesn't really need decanting. I can't say that it improved with decanting, it just changed, not for the worse or better, just different.

I don't know enough to give any real comments on aging windows but this wine is delicious right now, right out of the bottle.

Thank you Winedavid for this opportunity and for bringing us these wonderful wines. Living way up north in a small town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan I don't have many interesting wine buying choices locally. The miracle of modern telecommunications and wine.woot is much appreciated. Cheers!

norvegicus wrote:I'm enjoying the last of my labrat bottle of 2006 Syrah at the moment, coincidentally also having leftover steak and mashed potatoes from the same meal I had this wine with for the review.

The Syrah passes the "2 days in the refrigerator" test. It's a bit tart and tannic but very enjoyable with my cold steak and potatoes (I like my leftovers cold, especially grilled meat).

Received my Ty Caton Field Blend today. This is good wine shipping season for us here in the north. High temp outside today was 75°F...

cheron98

mbrengman wrote:Well i didn't have a meeting but it was a long day. As mentioned the bottle was warm to the touch when I got it but cooled it down and place in 56f wine fridge when home.

at opening the bottle was 63f and he wine was 58f when poured
half was decanted and wont be ready to drink for another 20 min (60 min total)

I have some pics for the colour but I have to add them in a minute. Very purple like a malbec

My wife and I had this and she is not a red wine lover but when she likes it its generally good

Aroma: definitely berry up front with cherries and blackberries some background oak/tobacco

Taste: early heat that softened within 20 min of the glass. medium long finish. up front blackberry/cherry/currant with lingering oak and ?graphite? maybe tobacco but much more cocoa as it sat in the glass. has the bite and tannin of a young wine but definitely drinkable now. general quotes :soft, easy, velvet finish, no surprises at the end, balanced.

overall definitely would buy at the $35 price point. (that's from my wife who doesn't really like red)

mbrengman wrote:sorry not really good at the image upload. here is the tasting pic

much softer on the tongue. a little more bright on the nose. I think the berry is softening. the heat is gone. I think it is more sophisticated now. The subtlety of he flavor requires more concentration. It is less of a wine for strong flavors now.
sting very good but different

fairnymph

Tasting notes, with pics, x-posted from the official SB thread. Please keep in mind that I am not a wine expert by any means, and when it comes to Syrahs in particular, I am quite inexperienced.

Once the bottle seemed adequately cooled (beyond the original 80 something degrees), I opened her up. The cook was stained, as shown below, and I suppose it isn't surprising considering the high 90s here in nyc and the heatwave across the country. The wine also sat for about 4 hours in my apt which is in the low 90s. Still, despite the stained cork, the wine does not seem spoiled or adversely affected, thankfully!

Sniffed from the cork and the mouth of the bottle, it smelled rich, smooth, and deeply fruity - like dark, ripe, almost dried cherries and plums. More like a Zin, actually, to my nose, or even maybe a Petite Sirah.

I poured a bit in a glass, and sniffed again. Immediately, it seemed brighter, tarter, with a pronounced alcoholic tang, and a little oaky.

The wine is a lovely deep plum colour, very rich and thick. As norvegicus noted (he called it 'legs', a term new to me), the wine clings in streams to the sides of the glass for minutes - quite amazing! Tasted, it has a heavily tannic and alcoholic bite to it immediately. It's less like overripe fruit, more like younger fruit, if that makes any sense. No longer black cherries and dried plums, but now it's like tart raspberries, with a distinct peppery finish, and still quite oaky. In my mouth, it didn't feel as thick as it looks, but certainly not thin either; I found it light to medium bodied.

1.5 hours later, I retested. It had aired fully the entire time, and been recooled a bit as necessary. In this time, it changed dramatically - wow. I am quite shocked in fact, as I don't think I've ever experienced a wine that morphs so much in such a short period of time. It still has quite a bite to it at first, a bit less tannic, a bit more acidic - I guess these features would soften with aging, and I will certainly age my purchased bottle. While it still has that raspberry note, it's even tarter, like berries that aren't quite ripe. It's also MUCH more herbal and even floral, notes which I couldn't pick up at all pre-airing. In fact, the herbal notes almost dominate to me after time - thyme and lavender type notes, I'd say, and then a semi-floral, semi-herbal note that reminds me of geranium.

In summary, my own tastes, which run to dark, smooth fruit as opposed to more astringent herbal notes, suggest to me three things:

1. I will most enjoy this drunk right away, without decanting (as it doesn't really lose any bite at all from decanting, that I can tell).
2. It will benefit from aging, becoming smoother (I hope/presume).
3. Were I to drink it slowly, or after decanting, I'd be able to better appreciate the herbal stage with the right meal; I can see this going well with braised/stewed rabbit or venison, or pasta with a spicy sausage and heavily herbed sauce.

I will finish this bottle tomorrow, and it's certainly a drinkable wine and I appreciate it for its many nuances, which are fascinating from an experiential viewpoint, but in terms of pure delicious enjoyment, I'm a bit disappointed. I hope the Zin pleases me more and that by aging my Syrah, it will improve.

yathink2

Received the FedEx package around 11:00a – Wife signed for the package letting me know it was for me. While I was expecting a shipment I was not expecting one from Wine Country Connect. So… I ripped open the box and to my delight found that I had been ratted out! Finally: One of the Few, the Proud, the Chosen, and card-carrying member of the Inner Circle. I am keeping up with the JONESES!

After staging the bottle and genuine recycled moleskin Certificate of Authenticity to a photo shoot and promptly posting to the wine.woot blog, the subject was placed in the cellar to chill for the remainder of the day. At 7:00pm EDT I popped the cork taking a few moments to catch a bit of fragrance from the bottle and a closer one of the cork which I immediately associated with the scent of opening a bag of cherry blend pipe tobacco, if you’ve done that sort of thing, that is. Decanted and let stand in the cellar until supper at 8:20. Served at about 64°.

Tonight’s menu was already in motion, expertly prepared by my better half. It was not composed anticipating this liquid visitor. Bibb lettuce salad, chicken sautéed in a marinade sauce of buttermilk/Dijon mustard/light garlic and parsley with roasted new potatoes in their skins. Which actually worked out OK with the Zin. Oh yes, the wine:

A lovely deep maroon color and plenty of long legs showing off in the glass. Fragrant, with initial sips then longer takes exhibiting flavor in keeping with a late spring sunset to be described as only somewhat fruit-forward. Playful on the tongue—Not too zippy hot, yet there is slight heat lurking in the palate and nose throughout. There are dashes of drying cherry wrapped in chamois leather with a touch of summer blossoms, none overwhelming the other. This wine is gently and subtly complex, just a shade or so less than might be anticipated. For us this wine did not change over the course of the meal (two hours—we take our time!) and it may not additionally benefit with more bottle time or decanting, this, not necessarily a bad thing for those who enjoy immediate gratification from their wine selections.

Recommendation: YES if you are a Zin-head. Is it worth $45? Gee, that might be a tough call, but at the current w00t pricing, GO FOR IT!

Thanks to WD and JG for the opportunity to kick the tire… er, bottle. I am looking forward to receiving my order and experiencing the ’05 Syrah.

yathink2

otolith wrote:It wouldn’t be right to not start out with a little disclaimer. There are a few things I am good at doing, fewer that I’m great at doing, and lots o’ things I’m not so hot at doing. Critiquing wine unfortunately falls into the far latter category. That said, I’ll give it my best shot.

First, a little background. Around 10 years ago I was introduced to “red zin.” I didn’t know there was such a thing. In fact, I was still pretty perplexed as to why “white zin” was actually pink in color. Over the past 2-3 years, my interest in wine has grown, and my cellar has largely grown because of this site. I was then introduced to zins again. I popped one (the wine will remain nameless) shortly before Mr. Gaffner’s first offering. It was similar to every other zin I had had prior—a highly alcoholic in your face fruit bomb. The alcohol was so overpowering, that it just ruined the wine for me, and I was “down” on the whole zinfandel grape. A week or so later, the first Saxon Brown offering (a 2 pack of the 2000 zin) appeared. It looked expensive, so I thought I would pass. It was reading through Mr. Gaffner’s posts that his passion, style, and approach to wine became readily apparent. I pulled the trigger, and couldn’t wait to try a bottle. I just knew I was going to like it. Six, yes 6, months later, I finally had a chance (had a friend over who is a zin aficionado) to break out a bottle. Needless to say, the bottle was gone in short order, and I’ve been a fan since, at least to the old style zins such as this.

On to tonight: My day was quite a long one--much longer than usual, and I’m certainly exhausted. I was driving home, wondering which wine I would pick for tonight. It’s “Taco Tuesday” in the Doc Ot household, so I was thinking along the lines of a lighter Italian or Spanish red. Then, I realized it was getting late, and I’d just pop a beer or go with a glass of water instead. I walk into the house, and here’s what I see:

Isn’t it amazing how it just appeared on the counter like that?

So, I immediately pour half into a bottle for tomorrow night (does the bottle look familiar?), and half into the decanter (look familiar, polarbear?), and a little teaser into the glass.

First impression: Medium-dark ruby red color. Nice nose of deep, red fruits (for some reason plum pops into mind). Maybe a little spice? A touch of alcohol, but not overwhelming. Swishing it in the glass reveals some long legs (I’ve always wanted to say that). Nice mouth feel with a smooth, medium body. Not overly complex or overpowering. I can taste the fruit, and am not overpowered by the alcohol, which is amazing, given the bottle lists it at 15%. This really tastes great!

Left it in the decanter and tasted an hour later after the tacos were down the hatch and the kids were safely tucked into bed and sleeping—there is nothing more innocent than a sleeping child. Oh yeah, the wine. It certainly isn’t quite a fruity as first taste. I can feel the tannins, and the “harshness” that they sometimes provoke after I’ve eaten. Swirl it around a little more, and take another sip. The tannins are still present, but not harsh. Seem to add a nice structure, and the wine seems to have mellowed. I continue to be happy with the fact that I am not overpowered by the alcohol. I can, however, feel its effects. :D

Gotta go iron my shirt for tomorrow, talk to the wifey pooh, upload some pictures to Charlie, err, Photobucket (see what I did there?), and I’ll be back with the last glass (you, of course, will have missed this delay).

The last glass (for tonight) & two hours after decanting: The author is fading quickly, the wine is not. The intense fruit flavors are really pulling through. Raspberry? Cranberry? Dammit! I wish my nose worked better! It remains mellow and smooth, the tannins are apparent; with a little more heat from the alcohol.

Overall, I love this wine! Just delicious, and certainly one I consider special given the history of its vines. Then again, I just knew I would. 

cheron98

JanFP wrote:You mean you guys haven't sold this out yet? Shame on you! Let me see if I can convince a few more of you to buy...

Opened the 2001 SB Zin at 7 p.m. Dark, opaque color - a chocolately purple. Smooth sheen down the glass - the legs sheet down, rather than trickle in individual legs. Nose initially was very alcoholic, giving way to a combo dark cherry/dark chocolate scent.

First sip - Nice medium body, no tannins. Very drinkable now - Aftertaste had a slight citrus peel flavor, giving way to a moderate alcohol burn.

Second tasting one hour later - the wine smoothed out a lot. A new aroma emerged - toasted pecan (very slight). Taste did not change significantly, but the alcoholic impression/aftertaste definitely subsided.

I didn't get to taste this with dinner - we'd eatenn seafood out, so to get just a slight impression with food, I tasted the wine with a few bites of pastrami and a large slice of pepperoni. Food definitely improved the experience, and the Zin stood up very well to the spiciness of the pepperoni. The pastrami brought out a bit of briar in the Zin; the pepperoni gave the Zin's aftertaste a definite change that I couldn't identify. Food also enhanced the mouthcoating from the wine.

I've vacuum sealed the rest of the bottle - I only had one glass overall. I plan to grill some NY Strips Friday night, and I'll taste this wine with the steaks then.

Verdict: A big, bold gutsy wine. I'd just had a PoiZin bottle last week - this seems more alcholic, but actually smoother to drink This is not a casual sipper, and not for the red faint-of-hearts. Pair with fine beef, spicy stews (too hot here though!), lamb tangine. If you love reds, Zins, Cabs, I think you;ll like this.

cheron98

otolith wrote:I think I almost liked it best right out of the bottle. I think what I liked best about this wine is that I'm not overpowered by the alcohol. The PoiZin (from the first go around) really was overpowering. I was amazed by everyone saying it was "good juice." To me it seemed like pure alcohol with some wine taste thrown in. That said, I left the bottles for a year before trying another, and it really mellowed in the bottle. It was smooth, and "good juice."

I'm having the second half of the bottle tonight. I kinda blew my wad last night, so now long diatribe. I still like it, but as it's warming, I'm definitely getting some heat from the alcohol, and it's losing some of its fruitiness.

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